Organizations seeking to implement or improve upon their knowledge management processes must invest in people and process as well as technology. A common mistake organizations make is focusing on the tools more than the processes and people. That practice has consistently led to failure, as technology is an enabler of knowledge management, not a critical success factor.
Leading the way with knowledge management best practices within service management is a methodology known as Knowledge-Centered Support (KCSSM). HDI promotes the adoption of KCS and has become a leading resource for KCS certification, training, and resources.
Why Is Knowledge Management Content Creation So Hard?
KCS rests on a simple idea: solve an issue once, then use that knowledge forever. In this October 2025 SupportWorld article, Susan Smith, a 2025 HDI Featured Contributor, looks at why support teams still struggle to write good knowledge articles and how to fix it, from building knowledge capture into the ticket workflow to treating knowledge management as coaching instead of compliance.
Read the Article
Knowledge Management Consulting
Most knowledge bases fail for the same reason. Nobody designed the process around them, so analysts stop trusting the articles and stop writing them. HDI's knowledge management consulting looks at how knowledge is captured, reused and improved inside your support center, then gives you a plan to close the gaps.
What we look at: how articles get created and by whom, how often the knowledge base is used to resolve tickets, article quality and ownership, whether KCS practices are built into the incident workflow, and which knowledge metrics you track.
What you get: a review of your knowledge practices against the HDI Support Center Standard, a prioritized list of fixes, and a KCS adoption roadmap your team can run.
Knowledge management is one of the areas covered in the HDI Best Practices Assessment and the HDI HealthCheck. To talk through your situation, contact your HDI account manager or call 800.934.6566.
Did You Know?
Organizations report reluctance to use the knowledge base as the most common challenge.
Whether you're preparing to implement knowledge management or improving a current implementation, it's important to learn about best practices, leverage resources, and network with others in the community.
Knowledge Management Learning Opportunities
Knowledge Management Resources
Knowledge Management Networking
HDI and Consortium for Service Innovation Partnership
In 2003, in response to requests from its members for knowledge management best practices, HDI partnered with the Consortium for Service Innovation to promote KCS in the technical service and support industry. This partnership resulted in the three-day KCS Principles course, which has gone through several updates over the past ten years.
In 2006, again working with members of the Consortium for Service Innovation, HDI developed the KCS Principles certification standard. This standard summarizes the core range of knowledge an individual is expected to know (based on KCS v6). One year later, HDI released the KCS Principles certification exam as a means of testing and recognizing KCS comprehension.
In 2012, HDI partnered with The KCS Academy to expand the range of knowledge management courses and certifications available to HDI members.
The current KCS v6 practices guide is available from the Consortium for Service Innovation.
Additional resources:
KCS is a service mark of the Consortium for Service Innovation.